Like Jim Crow (and slavery), mass incarceration operates as a tightly networked system of laws, policies, customs, and institutions that operate collectively… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share Image
There are more African Americans under correctional control, in prison or jail, on probation or parole, than were enslaved in 1850 a… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share Image
Now that private prison companies have found that they can make a killing on mass incarceration, these private prison companies are now… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share Image
The success of the few does not excuse the caste-like system that exists for many. In fact, black exceptionalism - the high-profile,… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share Image
Some of our system of mass incarceration really has to be traced back to the law-and-order movement that began in the 1950s,… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share Image
As described in 'The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,' the cyclical rebirth of caste in America is… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share Image
If we want to do more than just end mass incarceration—if we want to put an end to the history of racial… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share Image
“We should ask ourselves whether efforts to achieve "cosmetic" racial diversity- that is, reform efforts that make institutions look good on the… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share Image
There is a tremendous amount of confusion and denial that exists about mass incarceration today, and that is the biggest barrier to… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share Image
“Ninety percent of those admitted to prison for drug offenses in many states were black or Latino, yet the mass incarceration of… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share Image
I believe this system of mass incarceration would have Dr. King turning in his grave. There's no doubt in my mind that… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share Image
“Felon disenfranchisement laws have been more effective in eliminating black voters in the age of mass incarceration than they were under Jim… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share Image
“The Supreme Court has now closed the courthouse doors to claims of racial bias at every stage of the criminal justice process,… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share Image
Exposing police lying is difficult largely because it is rare for the police to admit their own lies or to acknowledge the… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share Image
“Even beyond private prison companies, a whole range of prison profiteers must be reckoned with if mass incarceration is to be undone,… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share Image
“If the movement that emerges to challenge mass incarceration fails to confront squarely the critical role of race in the basic structure… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share Image
“It is not possible to write a relatively short book that explores all aspects of the phenomenon of mass incarceration and its… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share Image
“The notion that racial caste systems are necessarily predicated on a desire to harm other racial groups, and that racial hostility is… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share Image
“This book argues that mass incarceration is, metaphorically, the New Jim Crow and that all those who care about social justice should… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share Image
I think this mythology - that we're all beyond race, of course our police officers aren't racist, of course our politicians don't… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share Image
If we continue to tell ourselves the popular myths about racial progress or, worse yet, if we say to ourselves that the… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share Image
I think it's critically important for people to understand that this system of mass incarceration governs not just those who find themselves… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share Image
Middle-class white children, children of privilege, are afforded the opportunity to make a lot of mistakes and still go on to college,… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share Image
“Despite claims that these radical policy changes were driven by fiscal conservatism...the reality is that government was not reducing the amount of… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share Image
The war on drugs has been the engine of mass incarceration. Drug convictions alone constituted about two-thirds of the increase in the… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share Image
For those who say that the war on drugs and the system of mass incarceration really isn't about race, I say there… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share Image
Once you're labeled a felon, the old forms of discrimination - employment discrimination, housing discrimination, denial of the right to vote, denial… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share Image
If you ask for good schools, you aren't likely to get them. If you ask for jobs or economic investment, you won't get that… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share
The uncomfortable reality we must face is that California, like the nation as a whole, has treated generations of African Americans and Latinos as… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share
“Seeing race is not the problem. Refusing to care for the people we see is the problem. The fact that the meaning of race… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share
Since the nations founding, African Americans repeatedly have been controlled through institutions such as slavery and Jim Crow, which appear to die but then… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share
“Felon disenfranchisement laws have been more effective in eliminating black voters in the age of mass incarceration than they were under Jim Crow…These figures… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share
“That was King’s dream—a society that is capable of seeing each of us, as we are, with love. That is a goal worth fighting… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share
Activists take the risks, while advocates are professional tinkerers with the system. What's necessary is for those who are advocates to support those who… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share
“Civil rights protests were frequently depicted as criminal rather than political in nature, and federal courts were accused of excessive “lenience” toward lawlessness, thereby… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share
We cannot 'fix' the police without a revolution of values and radical change to the basic structure of our society. — Michelle Alexander Copy Share
If we continue to tell ourselves the popular myths about racial progress or, worse yet, if we say to ourselves that the problem of… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share
The mass incarceration of poor people of color, particularly black men, has emerged as a new caste system, one specifically designed to address the… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share
“[T]he slave went free; stood a brief moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery. —W.E.B Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in America… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share
If you take into account prisoners, a large majority of African American men in some urban areas, like Chicago, have been labeled felons for… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share
“A new civil rights movement cannot be organized around the relics of the earlier system of control if it is to address meaningfully the… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share
The rules and reasons the political system employs to enforce status relations of any kind, including racial hierarchy, evolve and change as they are… — Michelle Alexander Copy Share
